1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to knives, and more specifically, to a combination knife having at least five cutting surfaces, and further including a second smaller gut hook located below a forefinger grip aperture.
2. Description of Related Art
The relevant art of interest describes various knives, but, none discloses the present invention. There is a need for a gut hook positioned on a bottom edge of the knife to prevent the necessity to release one""s grip on the bloody knife to utilize the upper gut hook, and thus eliminate the dripping of blood on other surfaces.
The relevant art of interest will be discussed in the order of perceived relevance to the present invention.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 380,520 issued on Jul. 1, 1997, to Gil Hibben describes an ornamental knife having at least six hooked and unsharpened portions on the knife blade. There is only one sharpened cutting surface on the front surface, and adjacent four hooked portions. A set of two hooked portions is on the back edge of the blade. The ornate hilt has a guard section on top and a lower section through which the longest hook of the blade extends as a hand guard. There are two grip sections underneath and a knob on the end of the hilt. The ornate knife is distinguishable for its nonfunctional parts and the lack of cutting gut hooks.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 156,070 issued on Nov. 22, 1949, to Oakley Brooks describes a hunting knife having a serrated region and a piercing point on the back edge of the blade. The front edge of the pointed blade is sharpened and ends in an unsharpened hook at the hilt. The hilt has a flat square end having ridges. The hunting knife is distinguishable for its dull edged hook.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 257,056 issued on Sep. 23, 1980, to Jefferson Spivey describes an ornamental design for a knife comprising a blade having a lower unsharpened hooked portion and an upper guard portion having a circular depression on one side. The curved handle has a finger hole and an eyelet at its end. The knife is distinguishable for its single unsharpened hook portion which faces toward the knife point.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 330,405 issued on Oct. 20, 1992, to Robert M. Luchak describes an ornamental design for a skinning knife comprising a short curved blade with a circular forefinger aperture and a gut hook having a hinged guard bar. The curved handle has another finger aperture adjacent the gut hook and two other finger depressions. The skinning knife is distinguishable for having two finger holes and lacking the features of a serrated edge, a triangular aperture and another gut hook on the back edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,854 issued on Aug. 18, 1981, to Marvin L. Austin describes a hunter""s knife adapted for eviscerating and skinning a game animal in the field. A stainless steel knife has an integrated blade and handle. The blade portion has a gut hook on its back edge. The handle has a T-shaped finger engaging member separating one finger notch from two others. The knife is distinguishable for lacking a second bottom gut hook, a triangular aperture, a forefinger aperture, and a serrated blade portion.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 299,375 issued on Jan. 10, 1989, to Kevin G. Pipes describes an ornamental design for a combination knife comprising a rear edge of the blade having an inclined serrated portion, an unsharpened hook, and a sharpened knife proximate the hilt guard. The front edge is pointed and consists of a forward sharpened edge and a serrated rear edge. The knife is distinguishable for its required inclined serrated region, an unsharpened hook, and sharp edge portion on the rear edge of the blade.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 362,485 issued on Sep. 19, 1995, to David K. Hall describes an ornamental design for a knife comprising a short curved blade having a top gut hook and a notched region and a handle having two finger holes, a forward bottom notch and a hole at its end. The knife is distinguishable for lacking a bottom gut hook, a bottom serrated edge, and a triangular aperture in its blade.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 409,270 issued on May 4, 1999, to Shiraz Balolia describes an ornamental design for a game blade comprising a short curved blade having a top gut hook, a notched edge and a finger hole. The handle has a distal aperture. The game blade is distinguishable for lacking a second bottom gut hook, a bottom serrated edge region, and a triangular aperture.
U.S. Pat. No. 449,031 issued on Mar. 24, 1891, to Peter J. Bernard describes a tobacco cutting or pruning knife comprising a handle with transverse forefinger receiving opening and a curved blade whose tang extends along the handle and has two opposing sharp edges. The knife is distinguishable for its two-bladed structure.
Great Britain Patent Application No. 510,151 published on Jul. 27, 1939, describes a sheath knife comprising a sheath for a knife blade consisting of a flat point for use as a chisel or screwdriver, a knife blade portion, and on the opposite rear edge sawteeth and a crown cork opener. The cylindrical hollow two-piece handle has a forward handle section with a spring operated stud or a bayonet joint, and a rear handle portion forming a casing with a hammer head tip for a tin opener which is an extension of the blade. The knife is distinguishable for its non-sharpened cork opener and two-piece structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,987, issued Jul. 23, 1991, to David Bloch describes a cutting and skinning knife having a upwardly curved sharp beveled front edge and a gut hook on the back edge and having a grip handle generally crosswise of the knife at an angle parallel to the sharp beveled front edge at a point near its front tip. The knife is distinguishable in that it does not provide a second gut hook on its front edge in the vicinity of the handle.
Patents having some relevance also include U.S. Des. Pat. No. 398,211, issued Sep. 15, 1998 to H. S. Howard (ornamental design for a utility knife); U.S. Pat. No. 2,279,833, issued Apr. 14, 1942 to E. K. Madan (a household knife); and U.S. Pat. No. 2,635,337, issued Apr. 21, 1953 to L. Marcy (notched linoleum cutting knife).
It should be noted that design patents neither suggest nor teach other additional features to their knives.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
The present invention is directed to a combination knife for skinning and eviscerating game having a handle and a blade portion having a tip, a top back edge and a bottom front edge and a rear portion opposite the tip, the blade portion having up to five cutting surfaces. A unique feature of the blade portion is a small gut hook positioned below the forefinger aperture in the rear portion of the blade portion and in the vicinity of the handle and opening toward the user. Other cutting surfaces are the back cutting edge, a top back large gut hook, a front bottom cutting edge, a front serrated edge to the rear of the front cutting edge, and a bottom edge small gut hook to the rear of the serrated edge and in the vicinity of the handle. A triangular aperture is located along the back edge between the large gut hook and the handle. A forefinger aperture is spaced toward the back edge from the small gut hook and in the vicinity of the handle. The handler has a front 3-finger hold portion and an aperture at its end for a cord loop is provided.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a combination knife having a second gut hook.
It is another object of the invention to provide a combination knife having up to five cutting edges including a top front cutting edge, a top large gut hook, a bottom front cutting edge, a bottom rear serrated edge, and a bottom rearmost small gut hook.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a combination knife having at least five cutting edges, a triangular aperture, a forefinger aperture, and two gut hooks on opposite edges of the blade.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a combination knife having at least five cutting edges, a three-finger handle with a looped cord, and two gut hooks of disparate, size on opposite edges of the blade.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.